Review: District 9 (2009)

You know the drill by now. I have an ever-growing lists of films that people mention and then gasp in horror when I tell them I've never seen it. I'm slowly ticking films off this list, and the other night I finally got round to watching District 9. I completely forgot what it was about actually, but the DVD cover reminded me that it had something to do with aliens. Nothing to do with the Hunger Games then! Haha!

Basically, the gist of the story is that years ago, an alien mother-ship arrives on Earth, and is discovered to contain hundreds of malnutritioned beings. District 9 is formed for the aliens to live in, but the living conditions are awful and slum-like.

The film itself plays as a documentary on TV following the events of the aliens arriving and Wikus Van De Merwe’s involvement in the eviction of the residents of District 9. I think this is what makes it stand out so much for me and I don’t remember another film quite like it. It definitely sets it apart from other alien invasion films.  The first time I actually watched this I thought Sharlto Copley was a terrible actor, that was until I realised he was 'being filmed' for the documentary and actually he was a fantastic actor, in fact he was the highlight of this movie for me.

I found myself conflicted throughout the first half of the film, I actually didn't know which side I wanted to root for, or which side I was supposed to be. During the first few scenes I was extremely against the aliens, or ‘prawns’ as I should probably call them! However, once Wikus and his team strolled in, I suddenly had this extreme disliking of the guy and started to side with the prawns. It was subtly hilarious though, the thought of Wikus walking through District 9 asking for signatures to confirm that each household understood the terms of their eviction!  The connections between this scenario and real life society in regards to the Rich-Poor divide and racism was quite jarring in places I thought, it tugged on my heartstrings a bit even though these are a fictional race.

I really enjoyed this aspect of the film, normally if you watch an alien film you are either on the side of the aliens or the humans that are against them.  This film had you flicking back and forth from one to the other, but it kept you on your toes.  It also stopped you from guessing what the ending would be, it kept me interested I can say that.

I promise to keep this review spoiler-free, so let’s just say that I very quickly took Wikus’s side again. For me, this is where the film really kicked up a gear and turned from great to epic. This is the first film that I've seen Sharlto Copley in, his acting was superb, I couldn't fault him. Even though I couldn't work out how it could end happily, I still rooted for Wikus throughout and the scenes where he was on the phone to his wife broke my heart.  Curl up in a ball, try not to cry, cry a lot...

Despite everything, my favourite character might have been Christopher Johnson and his little son. The digital effects team did a fantastic job because even though they speak a language we can only understand through subtitles, through their gestures and facial features, their eyes in particular, you can feel every bit of emotion they portray, which was so clever.

I can’t comment on whether the ending was what I expected, because I genuinely just didn't have a clue how it would pan out. It saddened me deeply, but with my critic hat on, it was the perfect ending. Has there been talk of a sequel? As much as I would love one, I wouldn't want it to jeopardise such an amazing stand-alone film.  Really it was the only way it could end, but you don't know that until you get there.  I have to agree with the sequel, it could be great or it could ruin it completely.  I think there was talks of one at one point but not sure if anything panned out.